Setting and context is really important in language learning. If you're only used to practicing in a very specific and limited setting then you're only going to be able to recall under those conditions. Some apps try to resolve this by using video conversations, allowing you to chat with other users of similar levels (extremely useful!) and canned conversations (Duolingo has this one). All these are important but you also need to practice "offline." It is also important to watch and listen to content (like you're doing), even if it is far above your level. You'll probably notice in your Japanese adventure that a big thing is that you're probably way better at parsing words and sounds (e.g. hearing differences in tones for Chinese) than when you first started. Even learning to parse words is a big step, but only unfortunately comes from exposure of longer form content, something Duolingo-like apps (not all apps) don't provide.